CONCACAF

It took until extra time of the final game of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship for Canada’s spotless defensive record to be broken — and then the goals came in droves.
The Canadians, who hadn’t given up a goal in the round robin, quarter-finals or semifinals, made it through 90 minutes of scoreless soccer with the Americans in the championship game Sunday in Montego Bay, Jamaica. But, the U.S. teens struck three times in extra time to take the regional championship with a 3-0 victory.

Football in February. It’s rare in Ohio. And for good reason. With the temperature clocking in below the freezing mark, the 10-man Columbus Crew and nine-man Real Salt Lake battled to a first-leg 0-0 draw in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals in extreme conditions at Crew Stadium.

Keven Aleman and Bryce Alderson come from the junior wings of two rival Canadian franchises — Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps — but they have the same goal.
To get to the U-17 World Cup. And that’s a dream they can realize on Wednesday.

TFC Academy accounted for five of Canada’s goals in an 8-0 rout over Barbados in CONCACAF U-17 men’s championship Thursday in Jamaica.
Michael Petrasso scored three times in just 69 minutes on the pitch, while Keven Aleman scored twice in 58 minutes as the Canadians earned themselves a spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

It’s rare for Caleb Porter to take a break from his passion. The University of Akron head coach is a self-professed soccer junkie, constantly watching, reading about and developing tactics for the game so it was a strange thing for him to put everything aside for a month following his Zips’ 1-0 win over Louisville in the NCAA title match on Dec. 12.
The championship was Akron’s first as a school. But given the stamp the 35-year-old Porter has put on the program in his five years in charge, it might not be the last.

A Canadian Soccer Novel

About The 11

The 11 offers insight, interviews and commentary by respected soccer journalists. It is affiliated with the Canadian soccer magazine, Plastic Pitch. Our editor, Steven Sandor, has covered Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, World Cup qualifying, CONCACAF Champions League, women’s soccer and the Canadian Soccer League and has won numerous awards for his magazine work. His work has appeared in the Sun chain of newspapers, Soccer 360, World Soccer, Soccer Canada, Philadelphia Daily News and the Deseret News. His work has appeared in publications in Canada, the United States, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Namibia.